The 138-129 win saw three Knicks players — Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes and Obi Toppin — scoring 30 points or more. The instance of three players scoring 30 points in the same game is the first for the Knicks in more than 44 years.
The trio combined to score all but two points in a game-ending 23-11 run by the Knicks (47-33), who rested Jalen Brunson (hand, ankle) and RJ Barrett (illness) after learning late Tuesday they were locked into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Quickley scored 39 points, one shy of his career-high, while Grimes finished with a career-high 36 and Toppin had 32. They are the first Knicks trio to score at least 30 points since Earl Monroe, Ray Williams and Toby Knight in a 148-143 double overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls on Mar. 24, 1979.
Mitchell Robinson (14 points, 16 rebounds) had a double-double as the Knicks won their fifth straight.
T.J. McConnell (18 points, 12 rebounds) posted a double-double off the bench for the Pacers (34-46), who had eight players score in double figures but lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
Jalen Smith scored 19 points and Buddy Hield had 13 for the Pacers. Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin had 12 apiece, Jordan Nwora finished with 11 and Isaiah Jackson added 10.
(AI image)
The game-ending run capped a wild, back-and-forth game that began with the Knicks opening a 32-14 lead. The Pacers then mounted a 30-12 spurt, after which New York went on an 18-8 run before Indiana ended the half with a 15-8 surge.
The Pacers tied the score three times in the third before taking an 82-80 lead on a layup by Mathurin with 7:12 left. The Knicks responded with a 25-5 run in which Toppin scored nine points, but the Pacers went on a quarter-spanning 18-1 spurt to take a 109-106 lead with 9:41 remaining.
The Pacers led by three points three more times before Quickley’s 3-pointer with 5:14 left tied the score at 118-118 and began the decisive run. Nembhard and Grimes traded layups and Toppin’s dunk put the Knicks ahead for good with 4:06 remaining.
Thereafter, the winners maintained at least a four-point lead until the end.
(With agency inputs)
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